Political parties for sale in run-up to Ukraine’s elections

KIEV, July 30. /TASS/. In the run-up to local elections due on October 25, Ukraine has seen an upsurge in the market of political parties offered for sale, with prices starting from $25,000 apiece. Over the past six months, a total of 27 political parties have been registered in Ukraine, some bearing rather exotic names such as Glory to Ukraine or The Good Samaritan.

Contact information is readily available at Internet forums, says the daily Vesti. The party’s registration date does not matter, so low-profile projects may also sell well.

"Even an embryonic party with no local chapters will do. The sole mandatory requirement is that it should be eventually registered in the customer’s own region," lawyers explain.

"We have several parties on offer. Some are newly-founded, no more than six months old. Others have been in politics for two, three or five years, the list is rather long," says mediator Dmitry, adding that prices start at $25,000. Another vendor, Andrei, offers the political party calling itself Independent Political Platform for "a tiny $40,000".

"Money down, and we will arrange for a convention and have the leader and board members re-elected," he promised.

The market of political parties went agile shortly after Ukraine's parliament adopted a law on local elections. Political technologist Andrey Zolotaryov said the parties may come in handy for those who put a stake on local projects.

"That is the surest way of getting into the legal space the new election law requires," he added.